SI gives Kings midseason grade of ...

Well deserved F. It's rather funny because we have sucked so long and no one cared before - I remember these grades sometimes being completely off because no one bothered to watch us (with good reason) and literally at times made stuff up. However, this season we were playing well initially, and people took notice - especially of Cousins-Malone and their relationship. Now, even national writers are on point and calling out the organization (rather than the players) for their screw ups this season.

Normally, I would say something negative about this double standard, but this time I welcome it.
 
dude12 said:
Maybe they should have just let the guy coach the team and not tell him what he needed to do as was reported....they overstepped their job description.
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Malone was the employee. Vivek and PDA were his employers. You put yourself in opposition with your bosses and you risk losing your job. Carmichael Dave is a perfect example.

We'll never know everything that happened. What we do know is that Malone is no longer the coach and the people who made the decision to fire him had the power to do so. It's not overstepping your job description when you own the team.

Again, I don't necessarily agree with anything they've done but they have the right to do it...just like we as fans have the right to protest what they've done. It's kind how it all work.
 
I wouldn't use Sacramento and Proud in the same phrase either if I were them (in regards to the basketball team, not the city). Nothing really to be proud of. 7-22 since our 9-5 start (or something close to that).

I would really enjoy someone cornering Vivek and asking him how he feels about all of this. "This season was supposed to be about wins and losses... what happened?" Vivek: "NBA 3.0... pace.... 4-5 defense....pace....Golden State......Stauskas>>>Klay.... NEW ARENA!!"
 
VF21 said:
You know what? This is not fair, IMHO. Vivek was invited to attend the economic summit by the Indian Prime Minister AND by the President of the United States. Sometimes you guys need to get your priorities straight.
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I think it's more the accumulation of silence from Vivek, not solely that he's overseas at an obvious high-level function. Do you think anyone would really care Vivek was in India if he hadn't been in hiding the last month while his team has continued its slide into the sewer?

That's likely what rubs people the wrong way, his silence in hiding, then going overseas. Basically having an absentee owner at the worst time possible, when his decisions revolving around the Kings have blown up in his face.

A vital part of leadership is manning the ship when the seas get rough, and frankly, our supposed captain is nowhere to be seen. It's not an accident there currently appears to be zero leadership in this organization.
 
VF21 said:
Most indications are that the final straw was when Malone came out publicly and made a comment about his lack of belief in analytics, saying "analytics doesn't win basketball games. Defense wins games."

I'm sure there were other reasons, but I'm also sure no team ever airs all the reasons a coach is fired. My best guess is that when Malone drew the line in the sand, it was the one act they (and not honestly sure who "they" was at this point) would not allow to go unpunished.
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The funny thing is, someone secure in what they're doing and why they're doing it wouldn't care. Even the most ardent supporter of analytics has to admit that they're a tool which can enhance what you're doing, but the game is still won and lost on the court and if you can't stop the other team from scoring, you're not going to win anything. It seems the front office took from this exchange (or ones like it)... "this isn't going to work, we're not on the same page" when they could have instead decided... "it doesn't matter what he says about analytics, that's our job. His job is to get the most out of the players on the roster and keep the team competitive. If he's doing that job successfully, he can say whatever he wants on the side."

That's how I would have taken it anyway. The coach and the GM have different jobs. They don't have to agree on everything, they just have to work toward a common goal. Winning as many games as possible seems like a pretty clear common goal. Which leads me again to the only conclusion that makes sense of the situation:

Our analytically inclined front office looked at the numbers and decided that missing the playoffs by however many games and losing a top 10 pick in this draft was not part of their plan. I see a lot of talent 1-10 in this draft so I can understand why such a decision would be made. They wanted a coach who's on-board with tinkering with the offense and "developing" younger players as a way of working toward the ultimate goal of adding another player through the draft this year. Malone was probed and he wanted to stick with his plan of gritting out wins with slow-it-down, pound it inside offense and aggressive defense so the change was made. My speculation entirely, but I think this is easier to believe than the prevailing notion that Vivek and PDA are incompetent.

Trouble is... I think they're going to find that replacing Malone with an equally qualified candidate and allowing that candidate time to establish a comparable rapport with the players is not going to be nearly as easy as they think it is. As much as I like the idea of adding talent through the draft, balanced against the prospect of delaying your progress by another year (if not more), I don't think it was worth the risk. What if we don't keep the pick after all and now you're looking at a whole year of development wasted with zero tangible benefit?

Or maybe they're just insecure and petty and that's all there is to it.
 
VF21 said:
You know what? This is not fair, IMHO. Vivek was invited to attend the economic summit by the Indian Prime Minister AND by the President of the United States. Sometimes you guys need to get your priorities straight.
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Although in all fairness, if he doesn't want to draw negative attention as being absent at a relative time of crisis on his team, it would have probably been better if he hadn't simply flooded the Kings twitter account of pictures of his trip to India.
 
rainmaker said:
I think it's more the accumulation of silence from Vivek, not solely that he's overseas at an obvious high-level function. Do you think anyone would really care Vivek was in India if he hadn't been in hiding the last month while his team has continued its slide into the sewer?

That's likely what rubs people the wrong way, his silence in hiding, then going overseas. Basically having an absentee owner at the worst time possible, when his decisions revolving around the Kings have blown up in his face.

A vital part of leadership is manning the ship when the seas get rough, and frankly, our supposed captain is nowhere to be seen. It's not an accident there currently appears to be zero leadership in this organization.
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Vivek RanadivéVerified account‏@Vivek
POTUS @BarackObama agrees @boogiecousins should be an #AllStar2015
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Not totally silent. I'm not sure what he could say at the moment. Management screwed up. I wouldn't be surprised if some powers have been lost. I also wouldn't be surprised if things continue to deteriorate that a more appropriately timed ax falling happens this summer on one or more employees and I'm not talking about the "substitute teacher."
 
whozit said:
Not totally silent. I'm not sure what he could say at the moment. Management screwed up. I wouldn't be surprised if some powers have been lost. I also wouldn't be surprised if things continue to deteriorate that a more appropriately timed ax falling happens this summer on one or more employees and I'm not talking about the "substitute teacher."
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I agree and I don't think PDA and Mullin should get too used to those court side seats:D
 
King Baller said:
I agree and I don't think PDA and Mullin should get too used to those court side seats:D
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Are you kidding? Vivek gravitates towards famous people more easily than young 20-something sorority chicks at a dance club. Mullin is probably safe barring a one night stand with Vivek's daughter and even then Vivek will probably try to convince him to become his son-in-law first before severing ties.
 
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CruzDude said:
All too true. When the ship needs fixing to keep from sinking, where is Vivek? Off in India with big-wigs. Not Good.
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As much as I like pointing out Vivek's stupidity when it comes to Basketball, this mess was created by PDA and Mullin so it's only fair that they cop the rough end of the pineapple for it. If they don't, then they should get the sack. No one in professional world can **** up as much as these 2 idiots and keep their jobs. Its unheard of!
 
Čarolija said:
As much as I like pointing out Vivek's stupidity when it comes to Basketball, this mess was created by PDA and Mullin so it's only fair that they cop the rough end of the pineapple for it. If they don't, then they should get the sack. No one in professional world can **** up as much as these 2 idiots and keep their jobs. Its unheard of!
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Well, I mean, David Kahn did last quite a while in Minnesota despite doing so many things absolutely wrong until lucking into Rick Adelman, who at this point was sorta burnt out and winding down.
 
Apropos of nothing, but...

Vivek__Roger_SFGiants_001_400x400.jpg


...of course Vivek is a Giants fan. :)
 
hrdboild said:
The funny thing is, someone secure in what they're doing and why they're doing it wouldn't care. Even the most ardent supporter of analytics has to admit that they're a tool which can enhance what you're doing, but the game is still won and lost on the court and if you can't stop the other team from scoring, you're not going to win anything. It seems the front office took from this exchange (or ones like it)... "this isn't going to work, we're not on the same page" when they could have instead decided... "it doesn't matter what he says about analytics, that's our job. His job is to get the most out of the players on the roster and keep the team competitive. If he's doing that job successfully, he can say whatever he wants on the side."

That's how I would have taken it anyway. The coach and the GM have different jobs. They don't have to agree on everything, they just have to work toward a common goal. Winning as many games as possible seems like a pretty clear common goal. Which leads me again to the only conclusion that makes sense of the situation:

Our analytically inclined front office looked at the numbers and decided that missing the playoffs by however many games and losing a top 10 pick in this draft was not part of their plan. I see a lot of talent 1-10 in this draft so I can understand why such a decision would be made. They wanted a coach who's on-board with tinkering with the offense and "developing" younger players as a way of working toward the ultimate goal of adding another player through the draft this year. Malone was probed and he wanted to stick with his plan of gritting out wins with slow-it-down, pound it inside offense and aggressive defense so the change was made. My speculation entirely, but I think this is easier to believe than the prevailing notion that Vivek and PDA are incompetent.

Trouble is... I think they're going to find that replacing Malone with an equally qualified candidate and allowing that candidate time to establish a comparable rapport with the players is not going to be nearly as easy as they think it is. As much as I like the idea of adding talent through the draft, balanced against the prospect of delaying your progress by another year (if not more), I don't think it was worth the risk. What if we don't keep the pick after all and now you're looking at a whole year of development wasted with zero tangible benefit?

Or maybe they're just insecure and petty and that's all there is to it.
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This is my opinion as well.
 
Tetsujin said:
Well, I mean, David Kahn did last quite a while in Minnesota despite doing so many things absolutely wrong until lucking into Rick Adelman, who at this point was sorta burnt out and winding down.
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True but I don't think even David Khan has misjudged situation in Minny as much as these guys have with Malone and his impact on that locker room.
 
VF21 said:
Malone was the employee. Vivek and PDA were his employers. You put yourself in opposition with your bosses and you risk losing your job. Carmichael Dave is a perfect example.

We'll never know everything that happened. What we do know is that Malone is no longer the coach and the people who made the decision to fire him had the power to do so. It's not overstepping your job description when you own the team.

Again, I don't necessarily agree with anything they've done but they have the right to do it...just like we as fans have the right to protest what they've done. It's kind how it all work.
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone is arguing any of this. They have the right to do what they want with their team. But making what appears to be a stupid decision (unless there are facts unknown by the rest of us that would change that opinion) means you are going to catch the ugly end of fandom and lose sales. That's the reason I kept pushing for the reason and the plan from them.

You give someone a vision and a goal and if it makes sense they will follow you. If you state reasons that you made a (poor) decision that sound like Don Quixote dropped into Wonderland, nobody will take you seriously or believe that what you say is true.
 
Sac.Kings said:
Well deserved F. It's rather funny because we have sucked so long and no one cared before - I remember these grades sometimes being completely off because no one bothered to watch us (with good reason) and literally at times made stuff up. However, this season we were playing well initially, and people took notice - especially of Cousins-Malone and their relationship. Now, even national writers are on point and calling out the organization (rather than the players) for their screw ups this season.

Normally, I would say something negative about this double standard, but this time I welcome it.
Click to expand...

We've sucked for so long and have been repeatedly called out on it, especially for poor personnel choices. It's just that many of the fans here still held out blind hope and optimism and criticized the national media for painting us incorrectly. They didn't change. They painted us right. The only difference is that now the community collective is on board with the national opinion: Vivek sucks.

The double standard lies here. It just stopped because we're all roughly at the same level of apathy.
 
"Just as the Kings were creeping towards relevancy, thanks largely to the All-Star caliber play of franchise center DeMarcus Cousins (24.2 PPG, 12.6 RPG, 3.2 APG, 1.6 BPG), Ranadive swooped in to return his franchise to laughingstock status."

This SI article is spot on. God I'm so over this s***.

You season ticket holders who are re-upping. Your better fans than I am. I just couldn't, in good faith, throw good money at such a horrid product. It's just not in my make-up. Especially since there is zero light at the end of this Cluster F tunnel.
 
VF21 said:
Malone was the employee. Vivek and PDA were his employers. You put yourself in opposition with your bosses and you risk losing your job. Carmichael Dave is a perfect example.

We'll never know everything that happened. What we do know is that Malone is no longer the coach and the people who made the decision to fire him had the power to do so. It's not overstepping your job description when you own the team.

Again, I don't necessarily agree with anything they've done but they have the right to do it...just like we as fans have the right to protest what they've done. It's kind how it all work.
Click to expand...

Agree. However, if I'm the boss, I would ensure that I don't fire the guy unless I have someone who can produce the same or better quality product. Seems like Vivek and PDA didn't think about that. In the process, they may have alienated their biggest asset, and equally important, their prestige. I don't see any big name coaches lining up to coach our team, and young guys looking for a promotion shall also be wary.
 
it's funny that so many of the FO defending fans on Twitter say things like "wow how are you guys still talking about the Malone firing, it's been over a month blah blah blah"

well guess what, it's not just Kings fans talking about it. It was such a monumental F up that national sports outlets are still talking about it 6 weeks later...........
 
SI looses all credibility when they gave the Knicks a F+- too high for them and they're actually rated higher than the Kings.....
 
pdizo916 said:
SI looses all credibility when they gave the Knicks a F+- too high for them and they're actually rated higher than the Kings.....
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At the very least, the Knicks have a vision and a GM with a track record (albeit as a coach) beyond pushing some pencils as an assistant general manager for Chris Mullin and playing third fiddle in Denver for a couple of years. They're also the Knicks which means there's always a chance that a star player gets sucked into the lights and glory of being in New York.
 
VF21 said:
Most indications are that the final straw was when Malone came out publicly and made a comment about his lack of belief in analytics, saying "analytics doesn't win basketball games. Defense wins games."

I'm sure there were other reasons, but I'm also sure no team ever airs all the reasons a coach is fired. My best guess is that when Malone drew the line in the sand, it was the one act they (and not honestly sure who "they" was at this point) would not allow to go unpunished.
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It was one of the reasons for firing Malone. I was told Malone at the very start has somewhat a different vision where the team should be going - starting on his reluctance to extend Cousins's contract, renewing Gay's, and so on.

We all know that every team uses analytics to help them build a successful team. Malone should have known this and embraced it as part of modern team building. It was so naive for Malone to come out and nullify analytics as an important tool, especially that the top of the organization believes strongly on analytics.

It was a very arrogant statement and it was seen as not being a very good team player.
 
Prince_XY said:
It was one of the reasons for firing Malone. I was told Malone at the very start has somewhat a different vision where the team should be going - starting on his reluctance to extend Cousins's contract, renewing Gay's, and so on.

We all know that every team uses analytics to help them build a successful team. Malone should have known this and embraced it as part of modern team building. It was so naive for Malone to come out and nullify analytics as an important tool, especially that the top of the organization believes strongly on analytics.

It was a very arrogant statement and it was seen as not being a very good team player.
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LOL.

Indeed, the career NBA coach, son of a career NBA coach, who has his not terribly talented team winning against a brutal schedule, should have bent over and acknowledged the superior basketball acumen of the barely qualified little junior player agent/basement gerbil with the Napoleon complex, rather than speaking of things that have been absolute basketball truisms since the ball was first bounced.

You keep on spouting the same line of nonsense along with your little PDA talking points. You look no less ridiculous everytime you do.
 
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